


To Light A Bitter Fuse

by Stardust2003



Category: Oasis (Band)
Genre: Beady Eye (Band) - Freeform, F/M, Liam Gallagher (Oasis) - Freeform, OFC - Freeform, Pretty Green
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 21:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardust2003/pseuds/Stardust2003
Summary: Jules takes a trip to New York City where she stops by Empire & Branch to have a look at Liam Gallagher's clothing line, Pretty Green. While there, she meets an unexpected employee.





	To Light A Bitter Fuse

I love New York. My friend Sierra and I decided it would be the perfect place to go for Spring Break. I'd only ever been there one time before and I couldn't wait for the day to finally go back. We planned to stay in the City for three days, and we had a pretty packed schedule for sightseeing.

The first place I wanted to go was to a clothing store called Empire & Branch. They carried Liam Gallagher's clothing line, Pretty Green, there. "But I thought you liked Noel?" Sierra asked when we were almost to the store.

"I do." I told her. "But I like Liam too."

When the infamous breakup occurred, I was definitely on Team Noel. I told myself I wouldn't fall in love with Beady Eye. Why I did this I have no idea. As a fan, I felt like I could like everyone and not feel bad. I mean, I liked Blur too and I wasn't ashamed to admit that. Eventually, Beady Eye grew on me and so did Liam's clothing line. I really wished he came out with a women's line.

Sierra and I entered the store and it was relatively empty. There were a few people shopping but it definitely wasn't crowded. I made a bee line for the Pretty Green section. It was a pretty good size. I could tell right away it was Pretty Green because they had the logo and big pictures of Liam hanging on the wall above the clothes. I made Sierra take a picture of me standing under one of the pictures of Liam with my phone. "You're weird." She said as she handed me back my phone afterwards.

"I know." I agreed.

We started looking at the shirts that hung on the racks. "A hundred and four dollars for this?" Sierra asked holding up a plain green button down.

"Yeah." I said. I held up a black pair of socks. "And eighty dollars for a pair of socks. At prices like these, Liam Gallagher himself better jump up from behind the counter and start singing 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' when you go to check out."

She laughed but I know she had no idea what "Cigarettes & Alcohol" was. "Are you seriously gonna buy something from here?" She asked.

"Of course not. I can't afford this stuff." Being a broke college student was really taking its toll. "I am gonna try something on though."

"But these are guys' clothes." She said looking at me confused.

"I know but I still wanna try it on." I told her. "It's on my bucket list."

She rolled her eyes. "You could always buy something here for Luke you know." She said.

I laughed. "He won't wear this stuff." I said. I tried a couple times to dress my boyfriend the way I wanted but it was futile. I was honestly kind of glad he didn't come on this trip either.

"Yeah." She agreed.

Just then, a guy came up to us. "Can I help you ladies find anything?" He asked politely.

"No thanks." Sierra said.

"Actually, where are your dressing rooms?" I asked, holding a blue paisley long sleeve button down in my hand. It was perfect.

"In the back." He said, pointing in the direction.

"Okay thanks!" I said.

He nodded and left to go help another customer. "Come on!" I said, pulling Sierra to the dressing room.

"Don't take too long." She said when we were outside the dressing rooms.

"I won't." I assured her and I quickly went into one of the empty rooms. I took off my shirt so the Pretty Green shirt would fit better. I was wearing a cami underneath which I always did. I buttoned the shirt and looked at myself in the mirror. The shirt was a bit loose but I liked it. If it wasn't a hundred and twelve dollars, I might have considered buying it.

I pulled out my phone and quickly snapped a picture of myself. That was another item on my bucket list I could cross off. When I was finished, I took off the shirt and put mine back on. I gathered my belongings and left the room. I gave the shirt back to the dressing room attendant so he could put it back where it came from. Then I went to find Sierra.

I saw her a few feet away, looking at some other brand of clothing. I started heading towards her but I was stopped.

"Excuse me, Miss!" Another employee said as he came over from talking to the employee who tried helping us a bit ago.

"Yes?" I asked. I didn't know what he could have wanted.

"Would you come with me please?" He asked. "The manager on duty would like to speak with you."

"Okay." I said. I wondered what was up. Did they think I stole something?

I followed him to another doorway at the opposite side of the back of the store. "Um." I said, stopping. Why would he be taking me to the back?

He turned around. "It's okay." He assured me. "The manager's just back here. Come on." He said as he waved his hand to have me come with him.

I looked back at Sierra but she was busy looking at her phone in amongst the clothing. I turned back to face where this guy was taking me and sighed. 'Please don't let me be in trouble.' I thought.

I followed the man through the doors and down a short hallway where we came to another door. He opened it and ushered me inside. The room was bright with hard wood floors and light blue walls. The sun was shining in through the windows. There were some posters of different fashion lines hanging on the walls and I couldn't help staring at them.

"Alright." A man's voice said. It was a deep voice and sounded distinctively familiar.

I turned to my left to see where it was coming from. I felt my heart drop when I saw who it belonged to.

He sat by himself leaning back on a big, black leather sofa. On the coffee table in front of him sat a tea cup and a laptop. His hair was in a short bowl cut (which looked a heck of a lot better than that "Dora the Explorer" haircut he sported a while before) and, surprisingly, he wasn't wearing sunglasses.

"Hi." I said quietly.

He smiled. "You like my clothes?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said shyly. I looked down because I was afraid I was staring at him too much. I couldn't help it though.

He smiled again and I looked back up at him. His blue eyes glistened. I could still see the youth in them and he still had that icy stare that seemed to look past me even though I knew he was looking right at me. "You wanna sit down?" He asked, pointing to the side of the couch on his right side.

"Sure." I said and I walked over to sit down as gracefully as I could.

"Tea?" He asked.

"Yes please." I said. I didn't even like tea that much but for him I'd make an exception.

He nodded at the guy who brought me into the room and the guy nodded back and left the room. "How d'you like New York?" He asked.

"I love it!" I said. "I'd move here if I could."

"If?" He repeated. "What's stopping you?"

I thought about my life back home. About school. About Luke. I nearly forgot about everything as I sat there. Maybe I was hypnotized by those blue eyes. "A lot of things." I finally said.

"And that's why you're on holiday, eh? To escape a lot of things."

"Yep." Just then, I looked at his laptop. There were about eight different mini screens displayed on it, each one showing a live feed of a different part of the store. "Are you like the security guard or something?"

"Nah, didn't that bloke tell ya? I'm the manager." He replied, stretching his arms across the back of the couch and leaning back.

His right arm was really close to my back. I scooted forward a bit for fear I might lean back on it. "He did say that." I told him. "He said you wanted to see me."

"I did, yeah." Then he leaned forward, clicked the mouse touchpad on the laptop to close out of the multiple camera shots. He brought up a single screen and pushed play. It was a video of me going into the dressing room with that shirt and then later when I came out after trying it on. There was no footage of me changing or anything though.

He stopped the video after it showed me exit the dressing room area. "I design clothes for blokes, y'know?" He said, looking at me.

"Yeah I know." I said, looking back right into those crystal eyes.

"You went in there with one of my shirts," he said, pointing at the laptop, "but you didn't take no bloke with you."

"No I didn't." I replied.

"Why?" He said, leaning back against the couch again.

I felt myself relax some and I leaned back against the couch as well. "Didn't have no bloke to take with me."

"Right." He said with a nod. "So who tried the shirt on then?"

"I did obviously." I said. I felt myself feeling much more confident as I talked to him.

He smiled. "You like wearing blokes' clothes?"

"Sometimes." I said. "There's something sexy about wearing your boyfriend's clothes."

"And where's your boyfriend?" He asked.

"Back home. Where's your girlfriend?"

"Haven't got one."

I could have sworn I read somewhere he had a girlfriend. After the divorce and all that, didn't I read somewhere where he was dating some new chick? "Oh." I said flatly.

"Yeah." He said. "So if it's so sexy to wear his clothes, why ain't your boyfriend here with you to get 'em himself?"

"He'd never wear that stuff."

He snorted in sarcasm.

"Not that it's crap. It's just not his style." I defended. "I mean come on, if it was crap, do you think I'd be here looking at it?"

"You could've just come to see me." He said with a small grin.

"Yeah that's true." I agreed. If he hadn't designed the clothes I probably wouldn't have been that interested.

"Yeah. You said yourself you ain't buyin' nothin' unless I come and sing for 'ya."

'Oh shit!' I said in my head. 'How the heck did he know that?'

Just then, the guy came back with my tea. 'Of course.' I thought as I looked at him. He obviously heard me and Sierra talking and ran back and told his boss.

"Thanks." I said smiling at him as I took the cup from him.

"You're welcome." He replied. "Anything else?" He looked at both of us.

"No thanks." His boss said with a smile.

He nodded and then left the room again.

I took a sip of the tea.

"You like it?" The "manager" of the store asked as he watched me from his place on the couch.

"Yeah. It's really good. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it." He said with another grin. "You know summat?"

"What?" I asked. I loved hearing that pronunciation of "something".

"You never told me your name."

I smiled. "You never told me yours either."

He just looked at me and I could tell he was trying his hardest not to raise the corners of his mouth to make a smile.

I continued to smile anyway. "It's Jules." I said.

"My name's not Jules!" He said.

"Oh for Heaven's sake!" I said, rolling my eyes.

He smiled with an open mouth. "Go on then, tell us your name."

"It's Jules!" I yelled.

"Right. Pretty name, that."

"Thanks." I said. I could feel myself blushing.

He smiled again. "How 'bout you guess my name?"

"Okay." I said, gathering my composure. I was ready to play his game. "Is it Joe?"

"No."

"Tom?"

"No."

"Dick?"

"Liam." He said.

"Liam?" I repeated. "Huh. I never would've guessed that. Liam."

"Yeah." He said. "So how long you in New York?"

"Three days." I took another sip of my tea.

He hummed in response. "Don't wanna stay too long, eh? Boyfriend'll start to miss ya."

"Yeah." I replied as I set my cup back down. Then, I absentmindedly started rubbing the Claddagh ring I wore on my right middle finger. I looked to see if Liam was wearing his. He wasn't. He had on other rings though.

"D'you miss him?" Liam asked.

"Yeah of course." I replied. Then again, I wasn't sure.

"Why didn't he come with ya then?"

"Didn't invite him." I said flatly. "It was supposed to be a girls' trip."

"And yet you're hangin' out with me." He replied. "Last time I checked, I ain't a bird."

I thought for a second; the guilt started setting in. Sierra probably wondered where the heck I wandered off to. "I should probably get going." I said and made a move to get off the couch.

He grabbed my hand. "No, it's alright." He said looking up at me. "Your friend'll wait, won't she?"

"Yeah but we've got a lot of stuff to see today. I don't want to keep her waiting." I was surprised she hadn't texted me yet asking where I was. "Thanks again for this." I moved to walk away but he didn't let go of my hand.

I furrowed my eyebrows, getting a little annoyed. I jerked my hand out of his.

"Sit down!" He said sternly.

I was shocked at his sudden change of attitude but he was who he was after all. "Excuse you?" I said.

The look in his eyes changed to that of being apologetic. "Please?" He said sounding a bit unsure.

'Maybe he isn't a jerk.' I thought to myself. I sat back down but put some space between us.

"I'm sorry, yeah?" He said. The cockiness was gone from his eyes and now they looked completely vulnerable.

"It's alright." I told him. I smiled a bit to assure him I wasn't upset.

He smiled back and leaned back on the couch again with his arms stretched out along the back of it.

I leaned back against the couch and could see out of the corner of my eye that he was moving his right hand towards my right shoulder. "Whoa!" I yelled as I moved away when his hand finally reached my shoulder.

"What?" He asked, feigning unawareness.

"I really should not be here." I said. I went to get up but I let him stop me again.

"Why shouldn't you be here?" He asked. "It's obvious you wanna be here. You've had plenty of chances to leave yet you haven't taken none of them."

He was right. I could have left but I let him talk me into staying. I looked at him but didn't say anything.

He looked back at me as he put his hand back on my shoulder and moved closer to me.

His lips tasted like cigarettes. It was the first time I ever kissed a guy who smoked. I could taste tea as well but the cigarette taste was more powerful. I couldn't help cupping my hands around the back of his head as we continued to kiss.

He had both of his arms wrapped around my lower back and before I had time to think about it, he put his tongue in my mouth (which I accepted happily). He moved forward pushing me back down on the couch, kissing me hungrily as I lay down.

A few seconds later, I felt his hand go under my shirt and cami, resting just above my jeans on the side of my lower abdomen. His hand was warm and softer than I expected.

"Wait." I said, stopping the kiss and looking at him when I felt his index finger slip under the waist of my jeans.

"What?" He asked, a real look of confusion on his face this time.

"I can't do this." I said as I pushed him off gently and sat back up.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because." I said.

"Because why?"

"Because I know your track record for having sex in America and I'm not about to be your next baby mama!" It really bothered me he technically had four kids now and he only acknowledged two of them.

He didn't say anything but nodded in agreement. "So what'll your boyfriend say when he finds out what you got up to while he stayed home?" He asked.

Okay, so he wasn't the only one who made mistakes here. "I don't know." I said quietly.

"'Cuz you ain't gonna tell 'im are ya?"

"No." I said flatly. "I'm not."

He looked at me frowning a bit. I could see that angsty look on his face that he used to have back in the day.

I moved towards him and pressed my lips against his, resuming what we started a few minutes ago. I put my hand on his stomach and slowly moved it down. I stopped when I reached the front of his jeans. I could feel a bulge but I couldn't tell if it was him or just his jeans bunching up. I was curious to know which one it was.

I brought my other hand over and unbuttoned his jeans. With my right hand, I pulled his zipper down and then pulled the front of his jeans open wider. He was wearing white boxer briefs. They were tight against his pelvis. I gingerly placed my hand on the front of them and felt what I was hoping for.

I pulled away from kissing him and looked down at where my hand was and then back up at him.

He looked at me but didn't say anything.

"I'm not having sex with you." I said surely.

"Alright." He replied sounding surprisingly content.

I looked back down where my hand was. I moved my hand up and put my fingers under the elastic waistband of his underwear. He moved a bit to make it easier when I tugged them down just enough. I took hold of his member and pulled it up and over the top of his underwear so it was out.

I put my index finger on the underside of his shaft and my thumb on the topside and lightly began stroking it. I could feel it twitch as his breath hitched a bit. Then, I stopped and tapped the tip of it with my index finger. He was getting hard pretty quickly but I could tell he had a way's to go.

I brought my other hand down and took the shaft with it and my right hand. I began twisting my hands around it with both hands going in opposite directions. He moaned a bit and I kissed him. We continued to kiss as I twisted my hands.

He reached his hands up to touch my breasts but I stopped what I was doing to bring my hands up and stop him. He looked at me confused.

"I wanna do this for you." I told him. "Don't worry about me." To be honest, I was getting pretty worked up as it was without needing his help.

"Alright." He said.

I put my hands back down where they'd been and went to resume what I'd been doing.

"Go faster." He said looking at me. Then he put his lips on mine and we started kissing again.

I stopped the kiss after a few seconds. "Wait." I said.

He raised his eyebrows to ask what was up.

I looked at the laptop. "Can you use the Internet on this thing?" I asked.

"Yeah." He replied. "What d'you want?"

"YouTube. I just got an idea."

He closed out of the security camera screens and brought up an Internet browser and went to YouTube. Then he moved out of the way so I could access the computer.

I typed in what I was looking for. I clicked on the first video that gave me what I wanted.

A couple seconds later the song started playing and we resumed what we started.

One to another (I stroked down with my right hand.)

Sister and a brother (I stroked up.)

Changing the way that you feel

Pleased to meet you (I stroked down.)

Hope I never see you (I stroked up.)

I'll be at ease watchin' you sleep watchin' you smile

Love I adore you (I stroked down.)

Always lookin' for you (I stroked up.)

And I'll be there whenever you need me

Be my Spiderwoman I'll be your Spiderman

"You better quit teasin' me and do it right." He said before the next part of the lyrics was sung.

I smiled. "Be patient." I said and then kissed him. When the singer began again, I did just what he asked.

I hear our day is comin'

Grows sweeter every year

Tomorrow could be too easy

And today's goin' to be too near

Justice for believers and love can keep the faith

I don't need you I can't buy you I can't hurt you

One to another (I stroked down again like before.)

"Oh come on!" He pleaded. "You can't do this to me!"

I giggled. "But it's fun! And you know you like it."

He growled playfully and then kissed me.

Peace to my brother (I stroked up.)

Always giving me his thing for free

On the word "thing" he made sure to swing his hips outward.

I squeezed his member when he did this and watched him smile in pleasure.

Sad to knock you (I stroked down.)

It's good to rock you

He swung his hips backwards and forwards quickly on the "rock you" part.

I couldn't help smiling.

And I'll do it the best that I can

"Want it fast now?" I asked when the music started before the chorus played again.

"Fuck yes!" He yelled.

I did as I was told.

I hear our day is coming

Gets sweeter every year

Tomorrow's gonna be too easy

And today's gonna be too near

Trust is for believers and love can keep the faith

I don't need you I can't buy you I can't hurt you

He moaned and it matched the scream at the end of the chorus.

Stand by my accusations

I'll come clean I don't need no vice

I know you want to keep me waitin'

I think it's funny that you might

Love is hard to leave

And it's hard to never have

Can you please crawl out of your window

You can play with all my love

Yeah yeah yeah

Box up all our records

And a head full of ideas

And a hand full of escape routes

They're going to burn you

The song ended but he wasn't nearly finished.

I was a bit lost for what to do next. I think he could tell.

"What?" He asked. "You didn't think I'd be done by the end of that, did ya?"

"No." I told him. "But you're gonna need to tell me what to do next."

"Go faster, yeah? Proper fast. And use both hands. I like that twistin' thing."

"Okay." I said with a small smile. I grabbed a hold of him and squeezed gently.

He closed his eyes and moaned quietly. "And do my, um, my-"

"Your balls?" I asked.

"Yeah." He replied. "My jewels. Jules." He smiled, his perfect top teeth showing.

I smiled back. "Okay." I said. I moved my hand back to his "jewels" and squeezed, eliciting a moan.

We continued kissing on and off as things went on. I could tell he was finding it hard to concentrate on kissing as I did what he liked. Pretty much every squeeze made him stop kissing me and let out a moan.

I thought things were going well until he stopped me. I looked at him puzzled. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No Love, it's not that." He said calmly. "It's just if you keep going at the rate you are, I'm gonna make a mess on this couch."

I realized what he meant. "Oh." I said.

"Yeah." He said. "But you did good though." He kissed my cheek. "You oughta try some of them tricks on your boyfriend. Bet he'd appreciate it."

"Yeah I'm sure he would." I agreed. I moved my hands away from him and leaned back on the couch.

He tucked himself back in his underwear and zipped his jeans back up. When he was finished, he looked at me and smiled. "Thanks for that." He said.

"You're welcome." I replied smiling back. I thought for a minute about what just happened. It was surreal but reality was slowly settling back in. Then I spoke again. "I should really go. As much as I don't want to."

"Right." Liam said quietly. "Your friend might send a search party before too long." He got up off the couch. "Come on." He said as he held his hand out to help me up.

I took his hand and stood up.

He led me to the door and stood with me for a second. "If you're ever back in New York," he said, "feel free to stop by here again. I just might be on duty." He winked.

I smiled. "I'll definitely do that." I assured him.

"Alright."

"See ya." I said as I went to grab the door.

"Hang on!" He said stopping me.

I looked at him.

He grabbed something off the table nearby. "Can't leave without your new shirt." He said as he handed me the folded cloth item.

It didn't take me long to realize it was the shirt I tried on earlier.

"And don't let your boyfriend wear it." He instructed.

"Oh trust me, I won't." I told him. "Thanks."

He kissed my cheek. "Don't mention it."

I smiled. "Bye."

"Bye." He said.

I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. I went through the door and could feel Liam's lovely blue eyes watching me as I exited the room.

I made my way back up the hallway and out into the store. I found Sierra waiting for me near the entrance of the hallway.

"What took you so long?" She asked.

"The manager wanted to talk to me." I replied.

"About what? Don't tell me they thought you stole something."

"They didn't." I told her.

"Then what did they want?"

"To rock me." I said flatly.

"What?" She asked confused.

"Never mind." I said. I wasn't about to tell her what just happened. Not that she would've believed me anyway.

She looked down and noticed my shirt. "I thought you said you weren't gonna buy that?" She said.

"I'm not." I told her.

"Okay. Well go put it back so we can go to Times Square now."

"Okay." I said.

She turned around to lead us out of the store.

I stuffed the shirt in my bag as I followed her.

On our way out, I stopped and looked at the picture of Liam hanging on the wall that I had Sierra take my picture under. I smiled at it.

"Jules, come on!" Sierra yelled as she stood in the doorway holding the door open.

I broke from my trance and looked at her. "I'm coming!" I yelled back as I started to walk towards the door.

We left the store to head towards Times Square. Along the way I couldn't help thinking about Liam. I touched my bag, feeling the shape of the shirt inside it.

I love New York.


End file.
